Bomb attack injures opposition politician in Dhaka

Yunus Ali, an Awami League leader, lost his right hand and suffered multiple shrapnel wounds in the blast in Khulna city.

An opposition politician is in critical condition after a bomb attack in southwest Bangladesh, a police official said.

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Yunus Ali, an opposition Awami League leader, lost his right hand and suffered multiple shrapnel wounds in the blast in Khulna city, 136 kilometers southwest of the national capital Dhaka on Sunday, area police chief Khan Saeed Hasan said.

"Ali is in critical condition and he is being operated upon in the hospital," Hasan said.

Hasan said Ali was leaving a crowded marketplace when unidentified attackers hurled two bombs at him. No one else was injured, he said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast, although Hasan said police believed more than one man carried out the attack.

Dozens of angry opposition activists took to the streets after the blast and smashed several passing vehicles, police said.

Bangladesh has been shaken by a series of bomb attacks in recent months.

The violence has been blamed on banned Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh that wants to establish strict Islamic rule in this Muslim-majority country governed by secular laws.

The violence has claimed 26 lives and injured dozens since August last year.